The present invention relates to a door latch and more particularly to a mechanism operable by either pulling or pushing on an associated pivoted arm or handle.
Door latches are most commonly constructed to be actuated by a knob or handle which is rotated in a plane parallel to the plane of the door. In many applications, however, it is desirable to have a door latch that would be operable by a pulling or pushing force applied to a handle; in the latter case the handle is supported for pivotal movement towards or away from the plane of the door. Such structures are generally shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,230 issued Apr. 11, 1972 to Armstrong, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,609 issued Dec. 15, 1981 to Klay, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,917 issued June 14, 1983 to Cocker.
With the unique door latch of the present invention, the handle can be operated in pull or push mode from either side of the door; in addition, the handle can be selectively oriented to extend either vertically or horizontally. The mechanism itself is of a simple construction lending itself to fabrication substantially from stamped sheet metal parts.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a unique door latch construction operable by either pulling or pushing a pivotally mounted handle.
It is another object to provide a door latch construction of the above noted type which can be operated in a push or pull manner from both sides of the door.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a push-pull door latch construction in which the handle can be readily oriented to be vertical or horizontal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a push-pull door latch construction which can accommodate doors of varying thickness.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a push-pull door latch construction of the above noted type in which major components can be readily fabricated from sheet metal stampings.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and unique push-pull door latch.